LOS ANGELES — When the 2024 Grammy nominations were announced, one thing was immediately apparent: Women outpaced men in the major categories.
The leading artists — superstars like SZA, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo — reflect an incredible diversity of skill with acclaimed albums that mine all corners of the human experience.
One such corner: divorce.
Cyrus’ malleable pop “Flowers,” one of AP’s picks for best songs of 2023, is a pep talk-turned-empowerment banger — the sound of a woman learning about herself again after a decadelong relationship ended in divorce. She’s raked in five nominations, including album of the year for “Endless Summer Vacation.”
Then there’s Clarkson’s “Chemistry” — a big-belter release she’s described as a “relationship album” that’s up for best pop vocal album.
And in the world of country, which has a long tradition of women performing songs about divorce and domesticity, Ballerini’s “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat” is up for the genre’s best album.
These records vary greatly but share a similar emotional core: They were written while grappling with marriages falling apart.
Musically, those endings opened up new realities. Clarkson pursued courageous ballads that stretched her elastic vocal range, Ballerini experimented with pop production and Cyrus wielded her weather-worn voice like a weapon. Their albums came out of painful periods in which each performer was redefining herself.
Ballerini is part of a long lineage of women in country making music about divorce and heartbreak — running the gamut in tone from vengeful to celebratory. Marissa R. Moss, author of “Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be,” points to Loretta Lynn’s groundbreaking 1973 hit “Rated X” as setting the precedent for future musicians.
What’s interesting, now, is the modern ways in which divorce is articulated on these records.
Ballerini’s album — particularly the song “Penthouse” — challenges stereotypical domestic roles and “demonstrates financial power,” Moss said.
The record gets at the idea that even when women attain financial autonomy and remake traditional marriages roles, they’re still not necessarily able to find freedom within its confines.
“I don’t think a quote-unquote divorce album is the first time that I have felt like it’s different being a woman in country music, that’s for sure,” Ballerini told The Associated Press, about gender expectations in the genre.
Men, too, have long written about marriages ended, but in the current moment, women lead the charge. Other artists writing in and around divorce include Adele,Kacey Musgraves, and Carly Pearce, another 2024 Grammy nominee.
Ballerini, for her part, understands why people relate deeply to the songs on her album that deal with divorce.
